Overview

Imperius is a powerful Warrior that has similarities to Sonya. With a stun, self sustain and wave clear, he's undoubtedly strong. In the current meta, I'd argue he's far superior to Sonya. Not only does his stun have considerable range, but his sustain when in amongst an enemy team can't be interrupted. In addition to that, his damage when his Trait is maximized on a player is considerable. Finally, with both Heroic abilities providing utility and survivability (in different forms) there's no doubt he's straight in at the top and makes an exceptional second Warrior.

Updated: 21 January 2019

Pros

Cons

A brilliant stun

Pretty terrible mobility outside of Celestial Charge

His Heroic (Angelic Armaments) is amazing

Not a solo Warrior

Molten Armor provides brilliant sustain

Damage based almost entirely on basic attacks when Solarion's Fire is on cooldown

His basics against a Hero who has three stacks of his Trait deal massive damage

Incredibly vulnerable to slows

Solid AOE poke in Solarion's Flare

Molten Armor needs Imperius to be directly next to a Hero

Trait

Valorous Brand (Trait) - A simple Trait which allows Imperius to deal higher burst damage after he stacks 3 marks against a target. Each ability grants 1 charge, and is consumed on a basic attack. Ideally, you want to be consuming them at 2 and 3 stacks (rather than one) for far greater burst. As the marks don't have a time limit, you can apply them to multiple enemies using Solarion's Flare, and when they're at 3 charges, dive with Celestial Charge for a stun and a gaurenteed basic.

Abilities

Celestial Charge (Q) - Celestial Charge will always deal damage to those in front of Imperius, but to impale them, they have to be hit by the point of the telegraph. You can decide how close or far away the point is from Imperius (within its radius) so you'll have to be quick at adjusting distance based on your opponent. At maximum range, Celestial Charge allows Imperius to travel a considerable distance, and once an enemy is impaled, you can ensure that they'll take basic attack damage when the stun ends. Ideally, try to hit a fleeing enemy, or high value target to shut them down.

Solarion's Fire (W) - Your only form of poke, Solarion's Fire has a fairly long cooldown, but does have a potent slow while applying one stack of his Trait. Ideally you want to be constantly using Solarion's Fire to soften enemies, trigger the slow, or apply your Trait. Once you've accumulated two or three stacks on opponents, it's then the prime opportunity to dive. I'll also add that Solarion's Fire is pretty good at softening up a minion wave or interrupting an interaction with an Objective.

Molten Armor (E) - Providing high amounts of sustain, Molten Armor is brilliant against multiple Heroes, as the tick-timer on it is rapid, ensuring he regains health quickly. Even against minions, at level 20 it provides a solid return (49 health every 0.25 seconds) ensuring you can survive a beating in lane. If you can, and if you aren't full health, start Molten Armor once you've impaled an enemy with Celestial Charge, so that they instantly begin to suffer damage, and you begin to gain health.

Angelic Armaments (R) - Without doubt his strongest Heroic, Angelic Armaments provides a massive shield, and damage potential. Should his shield not break, you can retrigger the ability to fire your swords into a point, with each sword dealing significant damage. At level 20, the shield is almost 2300 health, and each sword deals over 350 damage. Landed against a single target, it'll blow them up near instantly. If you need to, don't be afraid to trigger it a little early just to ensure you can fire it off after the timer.

Wrath of the Angiris (R) - While it offers Imperius some mobility, and the opportunity to displace an enemy Hero, it doesn't offer the survivability of Angelic Armaments. That said, if you can repeatedly - and reliably - snag a high value target, it acts similarly to Stitches' Hook or Cassia's Valkyrie in punishing anyone out of position.

Talents

Level 1: Consuming Flame

Bolstering your primary poke, Consuming Flame allows Imperius to increase the central damage by 150% (535 at level 20) but also increases its slow by 15% (bringing it to 55%). Great for controlling players who're clumped together.

Level 4: Battle Hunger

Battle Hunger grants health to Imperius when he consumes a charge of his Trait. Consuming three stacks on a Hero at level 20 grants over 600 health. Considering how quickly he can then re-apply his charges, it provides amazing sustain when paired with Molten Armor.

Level 7: Blaze of Glory

Blaze of Glory lets Solarion's Fire leave a scorched mark on the ground after casting. After a brief delay, this then explodes for additional damage. This Talent is great for zoning, and great for softening up minions and Heroes stupid enough not to get out of its way.

Level 10: Angelic Armaments

Angelic Armaments is incredibly strong, providing massive shielding and damage potencial. In almost any situation, it's a brilliant Heroic that makes Imperius very challenging to bring down (its cooldown is also ridiculously short).

Level 13: Divine Rage

Shortening the cooldown of Molten Armor by 0.25 seconds every time you hit a Hero, Divine Rage provides massive up-time to his defensive ability if you're in amongst the enemy team, hitting multiple opponents.

Level 16: Sovereign Armor

Making Imperius even tankier, Sovereign Armor grants an instant 50 armor for 2 seconds when you start up Molten Armor. It's a ridiculous amount of mitigation that allows Imperius to survive a lot of punishment, especially if Angelic Armaments hasn't even been used.

Level 20: Heavenly Host

As if his Heroic wasn't good enough, Heavenly Host allows Imperius to shield his nearby allies the moment he casts it (for 3 seconds), providing amazing amounts of group survivability.